Food and Nutrition Assistance Research Database

The RIDGE Program summarizes research findings of projects that were awarded 1-year grants through its partner institutions. All projects were conducted under research grants from ERS, and the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of ERS or USDA. For more information about publications or other project outputs for a specific RIDGE study, contact the investigator or research center that awarded the grant. For a customized list of RIDGE projects and summaries, search by keyword(s), project, research center, investigator, or year:

Project:Practices Used by Limited-Resource Audiences To Maintain Food Security

Year: 2000

Research Center: Department of Nutrition at the University of California, Davis

Project Contact:Debra Palmer Keenan
Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyDepartment of Nutritional Sciences26 Nichol Ave., Davison Hall
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-2882keenan@aesop.rutgers.edu

Summary:

The purpose of this project was to determine whether
limited-resource individuals are using unsafe practices
to maintain food security. The answer has implications
for how we define food security. Keenan et al. argue
that people who frequently rely on unsafe practices to
obtain food should not be considered food secure, and
that therefore such practices should be measured
explicitly in food security surveys. The USDA food
security module to the Current Population Survey,
used to construct State and national estimates of food
insecurity, does not include information on how food
is obtained.

Most of the literature on food acquisition practices
among limited-resource audiences identify only
conventional cost-cutting strategies—buying in bulk,
using coupons and price club stores, buying food on
sale, going to different supermarkets to get the best
deal, and making a grocery list before shopping. These
are practices used in traditional shopping venues.
However, Olson, Rauschenback, Fonillo, and Kendall
found that women from rural New York regularly
obtained food from other sources, such as from
hunting, fishing, gardening, and getting eggs, milk,
and meat from relatives and friends. Ahuluwalia,
Dodds, and Baligh identified food acquisition practices
that threatened the health or well-being of low-income
families, including delaying bill payment, skipping
meals to provide food for children, and locking refrigerators
and cabinets to ration food. Other studies have
reported men committing crimes so they will be sent
to jail, where they will have food and shelter; women
stealing food for their children; and low-income men
and women buying food on credit, selling blood or
possessions, eating pet food, and engaging in prostitution,
theft, or other illegal activities for food and
money.

The research team conducted semistructured, indepth
interviews with professionals (n=18) and paraprofessionals
(n=33) at Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program
(EFNEP) and Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program
(FSNEP) who had worked as nutrition educators for at
least 6 months. They asked educators to describe stories
they had heard from limited-resource individuals
regarding how they maintained food security. Questions
included common ways, surprising ways, illegal ways,
and ways people obtained food that appeared “unsafe.”
They also asked educators if and how food was “set
aside” for particular household members.

The interviews revealed a number of strategies and
practices used to maintain food security, including
relying on community resources for food, informal
support systems, increasing financial resources,
lowering food costs by planning food shopping,
managing food supplies, and regulating eating
patterns. Specific practices included:

Relying on Community Resources for Food

Using public food assistance (WIC, food stamps,
etc.), community programs (food pantries), and help
from private individuals (soup kitchens in people’s
homes)

Trading forms of public assistance; selling surplus
food (e.g., a turkey that cannot be stored), WIC
formula, free food obtained from an employer or
friend working in a store or fast food establishment;
or using stolen meat to buy other food

Asking friends or relatives for food or money;
eating at others’ homes

Going without food (“go hungry,” “fast,” “starve”);
limiting amounts or helpings; limiting number of
eating occasions (skip meals, live off meals at soup
kitchens, schools); depriving self of food (parent for
child, young women for men, woman for spouse,
men for women, teens eating only at school to save
food at home for younger children)

Overeating when food is available (e.g., shelter residents
overeating before leaving the shelter)

Eating food left behind on other people’s plates,
road kill, and free samples

Cycling monthly eating patterns, for instance, eating
fresh food first and canned and packaged goods
later; limiting variety at the end of the month

Many practices identified were quite ordinary; others
were alarming. Keenan et al. suggest that future work
confirm their list of practices and seek more examples
and insights from limited-resource audiences to learn
how they maintain food security. They also suggest
future work to determine the prevalence of various
practices that are indicative of food insecurity, and to
identify practices unique to at-risk populations.
Finally, unsafe practices such as rinsing the slime off
meat and eating foods from dented cans need to be
assessed for their food safety risk relative to each other
and to the risks of food insecurity and hunger.